Global Village on the Move with Madona Rumenova

This summer, over 350 Alumni exchange students applied to Global Village On The Move 2022 and 90 YES, YES Abroad, FLEX, and YEAR alumni from around the world engaged in an intensive leadership experience inspired by the Iacocca Institute’s signature Global Village program. Designed exclusively for alumni of these USG exchange programs, Global Village on the Move combined worldwide networking and cross-cultural engagement with leadership development and collaborative team projects.

One of the participants was the YES Alumna Madona Rumenova from Bulgaria. The program consisted of 2 parts: a virtual one that was 7 weeks long. From May 9 to June 24, participants began their leadership journey in a unique virtual community to work in cross-cultural, geographically diverse teams on a seven-week consulting project with an international client. They developed personal leadership action plans through a CliftonStrengths leadership assessment and coaching workshops.

And a physical one that was a weeklong and took place in Kyrgyzstan and in North Macedonia. For the physical part of the program, Madona Rumenova was selected to go to Kyrgyzstan with 42 other Alumni. 23 countries were represented, including Bulgaria. During that part, they worked in groups and developed projects, focusing on at least 2 sustainability goals. They learnt about creating a pitch, developing business ideas, networking with representatives of American Council and the US Embassy. They also visited the national history museum of Kyrgyzstan and dived deep into the culture.

Madona shares: “GVOTM ‘22 was an extraordinary experience, it gave me the opportunity to reconnect with my YES family, exchange experiences, knowledge, stories, future plans and projects. In fact, some students and I have already started working on a fundraiser to raise money for the people affected by the extreme monsoon rains in Pakistan that have led to the country’s worst flooding in a decade.”